Lethargic, warm, diarrhea, general “yuckiness”

[samlfclayton]

I just started keeping birds in May of last year and this is the first time I’ve had one not feeling well.

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
She’s a midnight maran, 8 months old, 4.5lbs
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Lethargic, wobbly, doesn’t want to walk, little interest is eating or drinking, diarrhea
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
2 days ago, I noticed she didn’t come out of the roost, but it was early morning so didn’t think much of it. Yesterday I noticed she was in the same spot in the evening so I pulled her from the flock.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Nothing that jumps to mind other than possibly the weather. I live in Minnesota and the temps have been between -10°F to 20° above the last two weeks.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
I fed her scrambled eggs last night and she’s eaten about 1/2 of an egg in approximately 12 hours
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Runny but normal color
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Epsom salt bath x2, checked vent for egg (no egg felt)
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I would like to treat myself, if possible.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
Will attach pictures
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Enclosed outdoor coop and run. Allowed to free range

 

[Wyorp Rock]

When was her last egg?
If she should have laid an egg and hasn't, I'd give her 300mg Calcium Citrate+D3 now, then once daily for a week. See if she's able to expel an egg or lash material.

Soaking may be helpful at times, but if a hen is lethargic, it could push her over the edge, so I'd use caution doing that.

Work on hydration, give electrolytes or sugar water, see if this helps perk her up.

While you are tending to her, check for lice/mites and make sure her crop is emptying overnight.

Has she ever been dewormed? Photos of her poop may be helpful as well.

I hope she improves.

I just started keeping birds in May of last year and this is the first time I’ve had one not feeling well.

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
She’s a midnight maran, 8 months old, 4.5lbs
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Lethargic, wobbly, doesn’t want to walk, little interest is eating or drinking, diarrhea
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
2 days ago, I noticed she didn’t come out of the roost, but it was early morning so didn’t think much of it. Yesterday I noticed she was in the same spot in the evening so I pulled her from the flock.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Nothing that jumps to mind other than possibly the weather. I live in Minnesota and the temps have been between -10°F to 20° above the last two weeks.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
I fed her scrambled eggs last night and she’s eaten about 1/2 of an egg in approximately 12 hours
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Runny but normal color
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Epsom salt bath x2, checked vent for egg (no egg felt)
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I would like to treat myself, if possible.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
Will attach pictures
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Enclosed outdoor coop and run. Allowed to free range
View attachment 4293717View attachment 4293718View attachment 4293719View attachment 4293720

 

[samlfclayton]

When was her last egg?
If she should have laid an egg and hasn't, I'd give her 300mg Calcium Citrate+D3 now, then once daily for a week. See if she's able to expel an egg or lash material.

Soaking may be helpful at times, but if a hen is lethargic, it could push her over the edge, so I'd use caution doing that.

Work on hydration, give electrolytes or sugar water, see if this helps perk her up.

While you are tending to her, check for lice/mites and make sure her crop is emptying overnight.

Has she ever been dewormed? Photos of her poop may be helpful as well.

I hope she improves.

Thank you!
She seems to be perking up a bit today but still isn’t interested much in eating or drinking. I’ll get a picture of her poop in the morning

 

[samlfclayton]

Update:
I've done 5 days of Rooster Booster Liquid b-12, A dose of Vet Rx and Safeguard AquaSol and have given her 3 epsom salt soaks (mostly to get the poop off her butt).

She's not laid any eggs since I've brought her into the house but I am not 100% sure she's even started laying for us.

Belly feels soft and no swelling close to the vent, no pumping tail like she's trying to lay. Crop feels empty and I've not noticed any lice/mites (Don't take this to mean she may not have them, she's black and I don't know for 100% if I'm missing something).

She's eating and drinking more, but no where near where she was before she got sick. Her comb and waddle look red again and much better than what it did when I brought her in.

Her poop looks normal but smells FOUL (no pun intended). Sometimes her poop is solid, sometimes it's still diarrhea. It’s sometimes a normal color and sometimes a greenish color and always smells like...I don't even know how to describe it.

She's not walking and doesn't want to stand and still has puffy feathers and occasionally is panting

I'm unsure of what else I can do at this point.

As far as reaching out to a vet: I don't know of any vets close to me that will take chickens (I live in St. Paul, MN). I've called a couple that came up as taking chickens when I did a Google search, but when I called to see I was told they don't see them.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I think you are doing what you can for her.

Some poop like Cecal poop smells worse than the more solid regular poop.

Instead of giving B-12 which only Cobalamin, you can try giving B-Complex which contains B-2 Riboflavin and other essential b vitamins that may be beneficial to leg health.